The "Afteeem" restaurant is one of the most famous in Bethlehem - it is said that they make the best falafel in the city. They also serve hummus, kebabs and fresh mint lemonade, which in previous years have attracted visitors to the establishment. But now there is nothing like it, ARD reports.
The 120 chairs are constantly empty, laments the owner Jacqueline Salame. "Bethlehem lives from the olive tree, the Church of the Nativity and Christmas. But there is no Christmas spirit."
Many people in Bethlehem are unemployed
The streets of Bethlehem are usually crowded. Pilgrims come to the city to see this once-in-a-lifetime spot in the Holy Land - the place where, according to biblical tradition, Christ was born. But tourists from all over the world have been absent for the second year in a row. The war in the Middle East has cut off the tourist flow, and with it - the most important source of income, writes the German public-law media.
Half of the people in the city are currently unemployed, says Salame. Families can no longer afford to visit her restaurant. They only occasionally take home a falafel for two euros.
More and more people are leaving the area
Salame's family business is an institution in the old town - for both locals and tourists. The restaurant has been around since 1948, but now revenue has fallen by 80 percent. The employees have given up half of their salaries to avoid the closure of the establishment.
The situation is similar for many other Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. During the war, unemployment has increased by 35 percent, according to official figures. Due to increasing poverty and the lack of prospects, more and more people are leaving the area.
No Christmas tree, no customers
The mood in the square in front of the "Nativity" church is also not upbeat, the ARD report continues. Usually everything is richly decorated there, there is a large Christmas tree and Christmas stalls. Now only a few coffee and corn vendors are walking around. There are almost no customers.
The drummers who pass through here at Christmas - on the route that Mary and Joseph are said to have taken - are also gone. Elias Bulus is saddened by the sight and tells the German public-law media that all this is a consequence of the war. He too had family in Gaza, like most people in the city. Bulus points out that there is no way to celebrate when people are starving and dying. Two of his relatives were killed in an airstrike on a church, a third died because he did not receive timely help in the hospital. Bulus often goes to the Church of the Nativity these days to honor their memory.
The church is only a few steps away, it smells of incense. But apart from a guard, there is no one else in the church. A star on the floor indicates where Jesus' manger should have been. In previous years, people had to wait in line for hours to enter the temple. Now only one nun kneels to pray on the cold stones.
“Because it is now empty and I am often alone here, I come much more regularly”, says drummer Bulus. “When I feel hopeless, I find hope here. I can turn my back on what is happening otherwise.”
No one else comes except journalists
“Since October 7, 2023, it has been getting worse and worse”, Aboud, who runs a souvenir shop, told ARD. He sells handmade scarves, but for the past ten days journalists have been the first to enter his shop.
Tourists think it is too dangerous to come to Bethlehem. Many of Aboud's colleagues have already given up the business. He himself works as a tour guide at the same time, but last year he only had two groups of tourists. "There are 50 or 60 families who live off the work in the hotels," he says. But now, apart from journalists, no one else comes.
By the end of the day, Aboud has sold a single scarf.